Kitchen Spring Cleaning

Getting rid of processed foods and ingredients from your kitchen is an essential process for creating a healthy lifestyle. It is time to clean out your pantry, cupboards, refrigerator, and freezer. In this article I will guide you through the process of what you should get rid of and throw out this week.

It’s sometimes hard to throw out unhealthy food because you spent a lot of money on it. The good news is that if you haven’t cleaned your kitchen out in a while, chances are most of it has expired anyway. This process will also show you which foods you should never buy again.

NOTE: Use this guide the night before garbage day so you don’t have food rotting in your garbage can all week.

The Refrigerator and Freezer

Grab a few black garbage bags, we’ll start with the refrigerator. Look on the shelves of the door. Throw out expired and processed salad dressings, sauces, condiments, and food. Read some of the labels of the foods you have, chances are you’ll want to get rid of the processed foods that contain high fructose corn syrup, soybean oil, etc.

Another thing you can do while you’re cleaning out the bad foods from your fridge and freezer is to take out the shelves and wash them down. This can help in the process of taking everything out of your fridge and freezer and analyzing all of your food carefully.

You may even be surprised that you bought some of the foods that you’re cleaning out of the fridge. Move to the shelves inside the fridge. Any expired veggies, meat, condiments, beverages, yogurt, milk, coffee creamers, or breads? Remove all of the processed and expired foods that you will never use.

The freezer is next. When I’m cleaning my freezer out, usually it’s leftover meat that I froze that I never ended up using. If you have any waffles, old ice cream, cake, hot dogs, or expired foods, toss them out. When I clean my freezer out, most of the items are very old.

I only use my freezer for a few things today. I use my freezer for ice cubes, frozen fruit, natural ice cream for a treat, wild salmon, fish, scallops, and frozen veggies.

The Pantry and Cupboards

Your pantry is likely loaded with all kinds of foods that are 5-10 years old. Grab another garbage bag because there will be another large bag of old and processed foods that you will most likely be throwing in the trash. Throw out any spices that have been in your pantry for over 2 years, since spices do expire and do not last forever.

Remove any sprinkles, bread crumbs, old canned fruits, old tomato sauces, soups, beans, peanut butter, jelly, and everything else that you won’t be using because it is expired or very processed. This process will take some time.

The first time I did a full clean it took 1-2 hours of time sorting through all of the crap that needed to be thrown out. Have you cleaned your kitchen out lately? Tell me your expierience about how this processes worked for you.

Matt Green is a health and fitness expert who trains clients and helps anyone achieve the health and fitness goals they are reaching for. Matt has been into health and wellness for over 13 years. For more information please check out his short bio

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